Method and apparatus for inquiring game player information

ABSTRACT

A method for inquiring game player information is disclosed. The method includes: storing game player information in an information storage database; transmitting, by a game information inquiring client, an inquiry request containing identity game player information to a game information server; after receiving the inquiry request, retrieving, by the game information server, game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the information storage database, and transmitting the game player information to the game information inquiring client. An apparatus for inquiring game player information is also disclosed. According to the method and apparatus, third-party software is provided with an inquiry request to inquire varieties of game player information, which meets the requirement of various network users or game players.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to online game technologies, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for inquiring game player information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Online game has an important place in current network economics. A player of an online game may have various kinds of information, such as ID number, avatar, grade, score and online state. Other game players or network users may desire to obtain the information conveniently. However, in the prior art, the information can only be inquired through a game client and an account of the online game is necessitated.

In addition, on a game server platform which combines Instant Messaging (IM) software and the online game, a game state of the player may be inquired through an IM client. Take a mainstream IM-integrated online game as an example. A player can find game state information of a friend through his/her IM client. The game state information may include: in which room the friend currently is, which game the friend is playing, and a game state (e.g. waiting, ready to start, or playing) of the friend. The inquiry process may include: 1) transmitting the game state to a game server in real-time when the player is playing the online game; 2) inquiring, by an EVI server, the game server about game player information periodically and storing the game player information in the IM server; 3) after started, obtaining, by the IM client, information including game information of all players from the IM server by TCP/IP and displaying the obtained information on an interface of the IM client. In the above inquiry process, information is not public and there is a lot of restrictions, i.e., the game player information can be displayed only on a particular IM client but cannot be displayed on a webpage or on other IM software or other network programs. Furthermore, content contained by the displayed information is rather limited, i.e. only the information about in which room and which game the player is playing. Other personal information such as grade and avatar of the player in each game is not displayed, which cannot meet the requirements of the game player.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for inquiring game player information, so as Co comprehensively display a game state and personal information of a player in real-time and enable any IM software or any third-party software to inquire the game state and the personal information of the player.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for inquiring game player information includes: storing game player information in an information storage database; transmitting, by a game information inquiring client, an inquiry request containing identity information of a game player to a game information server; and after receiving the inquiry request, retrieving, by the game information server, game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the information storage database, and transmitting the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to the game information inquiring client

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for inquiring game player information includes: an information storage module, adapted to store game player information; a game information inquiring client, adapted to transmit an inquiry request containing identity information of a game player; and a game information server, adapted to receive the inquiry request from the game information inquiring client, retrieve game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the information storage module, and transmit the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to the game information inquiring client.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, a game provider may publish game information of a player and provide an inquiry interface for the third-party software, so that the third-party software may inquire varieties of game player information by the game information inquiring client. As such, large amount of information including invariable static information and dynamic information updated in real-time can be obtained, which meets the requirements of various network users or game players. In the embodiments of the present invention, the conventional TCP/IP transmission technique is adopted for data transmission. Thus, the data can be transmitted and exhibited on the Internet conveniently with high efficiency, good compatibility and high stability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of an apparatus for inquiring game player information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for inquiring game player information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of an apparatus for inquiring game player information according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to embodiments and accompanying drawings.

In order to enable game client/third-party software 104 to inquire game player information, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for inquiring game player information. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus includes: an information storage module 101, adapted to store game player information; a game information server 102, adapted to receive an inquiry request from a game information inquiring client 103, retrieve the game player information from the information storage module 101, and transmit the game player information to the game information inquiring client 103; and the game information inquiring client 103, coupled with the game information server 102, and adapted to transmit the inquiry request to the game information server 102, receive the game player information returned, and provide the game player information for inquiry of the game client/third-party software 104.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for inquiring game player information according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the method includes the following steps.

Step 201: An information storage module stores game player information. The game player information includes static information which is invariable or invariable for a relatively long time, such as an account, a game grade, an avatar, and gender and name of a player. The information storage module may update the static information periodically or according to a request. The game player information further includes dynamic information which varies in real-time, such as an online state, the type of a game, location and information of other players relevant to the player.

Step 202: A game client/third-party software invokes a game information inquiring client and transmits identity information of the game player to be inquired to the game information inquiring client. The game information inquiring client generates an inquiry request containing the identity information of the game player and transmits the inquiry request to a game information server.

Step 203: After receiving the inquiry request from the game information inquiring client, the game information server retrieves game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the information storage module.

Step 204: The game information server transmits the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to the game information inquiring client.

Step 205: The game information inquiring client transmits the game player information received to the game client/third-party software. The game client/third-party software displays the game player information in the game client/third-party software.

In the above process, before step 204, the game player information may he encrypted and compressed first. Then the encrypted and compressed game player information is transmitted to the game information inquiring client. The game information inquiring client decompresses and decrypts the encrypted and compressed game player information. Thus, security of the game player information is guaranteed during a transmission process and network resources are saved.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the game information inquiring client is an ActiveX component and the third-party software is any program or script capable of invoking the ActiveX component.

In another embodiment of the present invention, an IM-integrated game is taken as an example to describe the present invention in detail. The IM-integrated game is a large-scale and multi-player online game platform based on the Internet, including various popular leisure games, competition games, and middle-scale and large-scale games. When playing a game, a player should enter a room in a game hall first. After finding a suitable position, the player plays with another player on a same table. Generally, one room can accommodate hundreds of players. The game player information includes: grade, score, success ratio and avatar, of the player, as well as in which room and position the player currently is, a game state, and whether the player is playing or being a spectator or wandering.

In order to realize public inquiry of IM game information, embodiments of the present invention provide another apparatus for inquiring game player information. As shown in FIG. 3, the apparatus includes: an information storage database 314 in an information storage module 315. The info/motion storage database 314 includes a static information storage module 312 and a dynamic information storage module 313. The static information storage module 312 is adapted to store invariable information, such as account, gender and name of the player, or store information invariable for a relatively long time (e.g. 100 hours online), such as a game grade and an avatar. The game grade is invariable during a period of time and will increase by one grade only if the scores accumulate to some extent, and then become invariable for a period of time again. The avatar changes only when the player changes his/her settings. The invariable information and information invariable for a relatively long time are written by a game server in o the static information storage module 312 in the information storage database 314, and are updated periodically or according to a request. The dynamic information storage module 313 is adapted to store game player information which varies in real-time, such as the scores, online state (online, offline or hidden) of the player, in which game, room and position the player currently is, game state, game players on the same table and spectators; the above information varies in real-time and is written by the game server in real-time into the dynamic information storage module 313 in the information storage database 314.

The apparatus further includes a game information server and a game information inquiring client. The game information server includes: an inquiry request receiving module 307, adapted to receive an inquiry request transmitted by the game information inquiring client, retrieve identity information of the game player to be inquired from the inquiry request and transmit the identity information to a retrieving module 311; the retrieving module 311, adapted to retrieve all game player information according to the identity information of the game player transmitted by the inquiry request receiving module 307, and deliver the game player information to an information transmitting module 308; the information transmitting module 308, adapted to transmit the game player information delivered by the retrieving module 311 to the game information inquiring client. The game information inquiring client is an ActiveX component and includes: an inquiry request transmitting module 302, adapted to generate the inquiry request and transmit the inquiry request to the game information server, wherein the inquiry request contains the identity information of the game player to be inquired; an information receiving module 306, adapted to receive the information of the game player to he inquired from the game information server, and forward the game player information to an interface module 303; the interface module 303, adapted to provide an inquiry interface for a game client/third-party software 301. The third-party software may be an IM program, other application programs or a web browser developed by a third-party.

In the following, a web browser is taken as an example. When a website developer wants to display information of game player A on a webpage, the website developer just needs to invoke the ActiveX component of the game information inquiring client in webpage codes, and transmits a request for inquiring the information of the game player A to the game information inquiring client. The inquiry request transmitting module 302 of the game information inquiring client generates an inquiry request containing identity information of the game player A according to the request of the web browser, and transmits the inquiry request to the game information server through TCP/IP. After receiving the inquiry request, the inquiry request receiving module 307 of the game information server retrieves the identity information of the game player A from the inquiry request and transmits the identity information of the game player A to the retrieving module 311. The retrieving module 311 retrieves game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player A, and transmits the game player information to the information transmitting module 308. The information transmitting module 308 transmits the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player A from the retrieving module 311 to the game information inquiring client. After receiving the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player A from the game information server, the information receiving module 306 of the game information inquiring client forwards the game player information to the interface module 303. The interface module 303 provides the game player information for the web browser. The web browser displays the game player information on a webpage.

In addition, as shown in dashed parts in FIG. 3, the game information server may further include an encryption module 310 and a compressing module 309, located between the retrieving module 311 and the information transmitting module 308, adapted to encrypt and compress the game player information. Then, the information transmitting module 308 transmits the encrypted and compressed game player information to the game information inquiring client. The game information inquiring client may further include a decompressing module 305 and a decrypting module 304, located between the information receiving module 306 and the interface module 303, adapted to decompress and decrypt the encrypted and compressed game player information received by the information receiving module 306. The compression is to make the volume of the game player information more compact and occupy less network resources during transmission. The encryption is to guarantee data security during the transmission process of the game player information and prevent the game player information from being modified during the transmission process.

The foregoing is only embodiments of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention, however, is not limited to the above description. Any change or substitution, easily occurring to those skilled in the art, should be covered by the protection scope of the present invention. 

1. A method for inquiring game player information, comprising: storing game player information in an information storage database; transmitting, by a game information inquiring client, an inquiry request containing identity information of a game player to a game information server; and after receiving the inquiry request, retrieving, by the game information server, game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the information storage database, and transmitting the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to the game information inquiring client.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the game player information comprises static information and dynamic information; the static information comprises invariable information and information updated periodically or according to a request; the dynamic information comprises information updated in real-time.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the game information inquiring client is an ActiveX component.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the game information inquiring client provides an inquiry interface for a game client/third-party software.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: before transmitting the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to the game information inquiring client, compressing and encrypting, by the game information server, the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player.
 6. The method of claim , u -r comprising: decrypting and decompressing, by the game information inquiring client, the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the game information inquiring client transmits the inquiry request to the game information server according to a Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
 8. An apparatus for inquiring game player information, comprising: an information storage module, adapted to store game player information; a game information inquiring client, adapted to transmit an inquiry request containing identity information of a game player; and a game information server, adapted to receive the inquiry request from the game information inquiring client, retrieve game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the information storage module, and transmit the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to the game information inquiring client.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the information storage module comprises: a static information storage module, adapted to store invariable information and information updated periodically or according to a request; and a dynamic information storage module, adapted to store information updated in real-time.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the game information server comprises: an inquiry request receiving module, adapted to receive the inquiry request transmitted by the game information inquiring client, obtain the identity information of the game player from the inquiry request; a retrieving module, adapted to receive the identity information of the game player from the inquiry request receiving module, retrieve the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the information storage module; and an information transmitting module, adapted to receive the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the retrieving module, and transmit the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to the game information inquiring client.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the game information inquiring client comprises: an inquiry request transmitting module, adapted to generate the inquiry request and transmit the inquiry request to the game information server; an information receiving module, adapted to receive the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the game information server, and forward the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to an interface module; and the interface module, adapted to provide an inquiry interface for a game client/third-party software.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the game information inquiring client comprises: an inquiry request transmitting module, adapted to generate the inquiry request and transmit the inquiry request to the game information server; an information receiving module, adapted to receive the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the game information server, and forward the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to an interface module; and the interface module, adapted to provide an inquiry interface for a game client/third-party software.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the game information inquiring client comprises: an inquiry request transmitting module, adapted to generate the inquiry request and transmit the inquiry request to the game information server; an information receiving module, adapted to receive the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player from the game information server, and forward the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player to an interface module; and the interface module, adapted to provide an inquiry interface for a game client/third-party software.
 14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the game information server further comprises: an encrypting module and a compressing module, adapted to encrypt and compress the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player retrieved by the retrieving module, and transmit the encrypted and compressed game player information to the information transmitting module.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the game information inquiring client further comprises: a decompressing module and a decrypting module, adapted to decompress and decrypt the game player information corresponding to the identity information of the game player received by the information receiving module, and transmit the decompressed and decrypted game player information to the interface module.
 16. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the game information inquiring client is an ActiveX component. 